Seward High School - Sewardonian Yearbook (Seward, NE)

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Ill 0 Ill Normal Training Department In 1907 the Nebraska legislature enacted the Normal Training law which per- mitted High Schools in the state of Nebraska to offer special courses for the training of rural teachers. The State Department designated Seward as one of the Normal Training schools in 1908. Miss Frances Huntington was the first Normal Training teacher appointed in the Seward Schools. During the years that Normal Training has been offered in the Seward High School, 224 students have graduated in this course. The Seward School has rendered a real service to the rural schools of Seward County in the training of students preparatory to assuming the responsible work of teaching. The largest Normal Training class in the history of the school will graduate May 21st, 1925. Commercial Department The Commercial Department was introduced as an elective course in the Seward Schools in 1917. This was the first attempt to shape the course of study in the Public Schools to conform to the demands on the part of the community to teach subjects of practical value that students can use in making a livelihood. This course was both popular and successful from the standpoint of efficiency from the very start. Miss Josephine Dougan QMrs. Josephine Mickelj, an experienced teacher and one who had much practical business experience, organized the department in Shorthand, Typewriting, Bookeeping, Commercial Law and Business English. More students have registered in the Commercial Department than in any other department in school and many of the graduates are now serving in responsible posi- tions, both in Seward and elsewhere. Many students who otherwise would be put to great expense to secure their business training elsewhere, can now secure this train- ing at home undexy the most efficient and thorough instruction, second to none in the state. X X I1 D X ! E1 tl nr vc tm na in nn an sm me an PAGE SEVENTY-six LSL?

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nl X VIII!! V1 FD! -f-- -- -- ill! it inn! it IU M nsic Department Music has been taught in the Seward Public Schools for more than fifteen years, but not until 1918 was instrumental music made a part of the Seward High School curriculum. The Seward Commercial Club rendered substantial financial assistance in introducing this phase of music in the Seward High School by jointly employing a band leader for the City and the Schools. The first effort along this line was the organization of a saxophone band in 1918. This proved to be a failure and the band was converted, the following year, from a saxophone organization to a military band. Both orchestras and bands have been de- veloped in the Seward School and under the able leadership of our High School Prin- cipal, C. T. Feelhaver, these organizations promise to furnish the City of Seward some high class musicians in the future. M anfaal Training Manual Training was first introduced in the Seward Schools in 1914. It was an experiment that was being tried out in the grades under the direction of David Jones, who acted as instructor of music and manual training in grades seven and eight. With the completion of the new High School building, two rooms had been speci- ally constructed for this particular phase of school work. Manual training courses were now revised to fit the needs for High School students and courses were oifered in grades nine and ten. 'The demand was so great that in less than two years the rooms built for manual training were inadequate to meet the needs of the increase in enroll- ment in this department and it was found necessary to abandon these rooms and move into the gymnasium for additional quarters. In 1920 the department was again enlarged to make provision for additional courses in mechanical drawing and machine work, including auto construction, forging and lathe work. No department in school has proven a more practical value than the Manual Training department. Eighty-eight students are now electing these courses and are receiving splendid training along the various lines. Home Economies Department Home Economics Department was introduced in the Seward Schools in 1916. Two rooms were especially constructed in the new High School building for the teaching of one year cooking and one year of sewing. In 1918 the Federal Government stimulated the training of girls for Home Keeping in our public schools by enacting a law known as the Smith-Hughes law to defray fifty percent of the cost of Home Economic in- struction in our public schools, providing the work was correlated with related sub- jects bearing on home training. The Seward Schools were recognized by the govern- ment and approved to offer the work in accord with the Federal plans, adding to this course, Home Management, Household Art, Agriculture and Physiology. Since the introduction of Home Economics in the Seward Schools it has been one of the most popular courses offered. At the present time sixty-three girls are re- ceiving instruction in this department. f-5 H 1:1 m an vm na un m is vm la in 55.25 PAGE SEVENTX FIVE

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